Weekend Pick for September 23, 2022
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We want to thank Dr. Alice Hays for her fantastic picks for the month of September!
Check out our weekly suggestions!
Are your students looking for book recommendations?
Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.
We want to thank Dr. Alice Hays for her fantastic picks for the month of September!
I have to confess- I am secretly a HUGE fangirl of Joy McCullough’s and feel incredibly fortunate that I was able to meet her in person at the ALAN conference the same year that her hugely successful Blood Water Paint was released. Discussed in The New Yorker here.
I was thrilled to get a copy of We are the Ashes, We are the Fire!
Joy McCullough does not disappoint in this similarly veined novel. Em’s big sister, Nor is raped at a college party, and their mother has continuously told them that their stories matter. Em is adamant that Nor tells her story with the ultimate goal of obtaining justice for the wrongs that her sister has experienced.
She uses every tool in her power, including her school newspaper and social media resources to ensure that everyone knows exactly what the rapist has done. Her single-minded goal is to ensure that the DA actually prosecutes the perpetrator as opposed to let him off with a plea deal.
Unfortunately, this means that Nor also has to relieve the experience again and again. And although the jury does in fact convict the rapist, the judge delivers a sentence that is not even a slap on the hand. After the fact, it is Nor who pays the price for daring to speak out against the patriarchal society that dictates that men can take what they want.
I was thrilled to get a copy of We are the Ashes, We are the Fire!
Joy McCullough does not disappoint in this similarly veined novel. Em’s big sister, Nor is raped at a college party, and their mother has continuously told them that their stories matter. Em is adamant that Nor tells her story with the ultimate goal of obtaining justice for the wrongs that her sister has experienced.
She uses every tool in her power, including her school newspaper and social media resources to ensure that everyone knows exactly what the rapist has done. Her single-minded goal is to ensure that the DA actually prosecutes the perpetrator as opposed to let him off with a plea deal.
Unfortunately, this means that Nor also has to relieve the experience again and again. And although the jury does in fact convict the rapist, the judge delivers a sentence that is not even a slap on the hand. After the fact, it is Nor who pays the price for daring to speak out against the patriarchal society that dictates that men can take what they want.
Joy McCullough The novel continues to explore the complexity of speaking out vs. staying silent both for the victim and their allies. Through the reading, I found myself simultaneously being frustrated by the ways that Em’s actions impacted other people’s lives and feeling highly empathetic towards her feelings of impotence.
One of the strengths of McCullough’s writing is the historical references she lays over her writing. In this book, she centers on the story of Marguerite de Bressieux. Legend has it that this French noblewoman joined the army in order to take revenge upon the men who raped the women of her household.
This is another powerful example of telling someone’s story from Joy McCullough, illuminating events that, all too often, are swept under the carpet.
If you need to speak to someone about sexual assault, find contact information here:
https://www.rainn.org/resources
https://www.nsvrc.org/survivors
The following is a guide for friends or family of sexual assault:
https://www.pcar.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdfs/friends_and_family_guide_final.pdf
One of the strengths of McCullough’s writing is the historical references she lays over her writing. In this book, she centers on the story of Marguerite de Bressieux. Legend has it that this French noblewoman joined the army in order to take revenge upon the men who raped the women of her household.
This is another powerful example of telling someone’s story from Joy McCullough, illuminating events that, all too often, are swept under the carpet.
If you need to speak to someone about sexual assault, find contact information here:
https://www.rainn.org/resources
https://www.nsvrc.org/survivors
The following is a guide for friends or family of sexual assault:
https://www.pcar.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdfs/friends_and_family_guide_final.pdf
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